Wednesday, November 12, 2008

The Hard-Wired Values Of Cognitive Dissonance

"In the days following the election, we’ve heard a lot about unity. This year, 53 percent of the voters cast their ballots for Barack Obama, and we’re being told that the country unified to elect him. In 2004, 51 percent of the nation voted to reelect Bush — but back then we were a country divided.

I hear that because Obama came out seven points ahead of John McCain that he won in a landslide. If you want to talk landslide, remember that Ronald Reagan won his first election against Jimmy Carter by nine points. He then went on to win his second term against Walter Mondale by 18 points. Now that’s a landslide.

Still, we did elect the candidate of hope and change — coming soon to a much larger government near you.

Speaking of unity: over the past eight years, many on the left made it known that they had no use for unity. For example, 'embarrassed' by George Bush, noted political commentator Julia Roberts said, 'He’s not my president.' Unflattering comparisons of Bush to chimpanzees and Hitler and claims of his inherent stupidity dotted the blogosphere. While the legacy media couldn’t quite get away with calling Bush the heir to the Third Reich, they did everything they could to discredit the president and his policies, even if it meant printing leaks of sensitive programs designed to keep Americans safe in the wake of 9/11.

Now that The One has emerged victorious, the need for unity is suddenly imperative. During his acceptance speech, Obama said that even if he didn’t win your vote, 'I will be your president.' Former Clinton hack and MSNBC 'journalist' Chris Matthews wants to 'do everything I can to make this thing work, this new presidency work. …Yeah, it’s my job. My job is to help this country.' I thought his job was to impartially report the news of the day with a minimum amount of drooling, but what do I know? And, perhaps even more important, celebrities who built their fabulous careers and made their fabulous fortunes in America can join Michelle Obama in finally being proud of their country.

Another example of this sudden need for peace, love, and reconciliation is the website From 52 to 48 with Love. Perhaps they chose the site name before the final vote tally was in. Created by the same type of 'feelings first' folks who brought you Sorry Everybody, a site that apologized to the world for the 2004 reelection of George Bush, it’s populated with photos of people holding handmade signs with saccharine sentiments like, 'Dear 48, I PROMISE: to listen to you, to fight for you, to respect you always. Love, 52.' It’s an interesting reaction, considering signs like this one that appeared on Sorry Everybody in 2004: 'I am so sorry. Next time we’ll get the b****** for real O.K.'

Wow. Liberals went from being sore losers to gracious winners. All except the woman who emailed a friend of mine who ran a pro-McCain site: 'Obama won, b****.' Guess she didn’t get the touchy-feely memo."

-- Pam Meister, somehow recognizing (after 8 years of it) that Democrats will use any form of manipulation - positive or negative - just to get their way, in Pajamas Media.